A Break from Time Constraints

RUSH: It actually is great to be back with all of you. I spent an amazing week, and I’m going to be very honest about this. I needed to recharge. I needed to chill out, and, by the way, folks, I want to let you know, I have canceled both of my scheduled appearances in the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic scheduled for this month and in the AT&T National Pro-Am in February because of the presidential primaries and the election season. It’s too important. I’m not going to be gone during those periods. February 5th is the huge Super Tuesday. That is the week that the AT&T starts, it’s actually the following weekend. The Super Bowl is on February 3rd. The Bob Hope is January 15th. I had committed to both and I canceled over the weekend, over the Christmas break. I canceled them both simply because of the importance of this year.

Now, I went Missouri for Christmas. I left on Christmas Eve morning; I got back on Christmas night, on the 25th. So that’s a week ago yesterday. I did not leave the house from Christmas night — other than a couple of golf games — I did not leave the house from Christmas night until yesterday morning for another golf game. I didn’t speak to anybody, I e-mailed, iChatted, that sort of stuff. Just me and Punkin. I had some people call and invite themselves over for New Year’s Eve dinner, so I set one of those up. So I take it back. It was Monday night. Monday night’s New Year’s Eve, right? But it was so blissful. I figured out something while I was gone. I’ve been in radio — and by the way, this is not unique to me, I think a lot of people’s lives are lived under the pressure of the precision of time — I’ve been doing broadcasting since I was 16, and I didn’t even figure this out until I e-mailed somebody. ‘What are you doing?’ ‘I’m just sitting here vegging.’ I didn’t worry about what time I went to bed. I didn’t go to bed ’til I got tired, couple days it was five o’clock in the morning. I didn’t worry about what time I got up, and that was what was bliss, no schedule, no obligations, no having to be on, no having to even shave, no having to even get dressed if I didn’t want to, because what does Punkin care? So it was just blissful.

But since I was 16 (that’s 40 years, in radio) everything is precision timing: Commercial breaks, gotta be here at the precise time, there’s no such thing as even being seconds late. And television, when I did that, it was even more so, and all other aspects of life. I’m sure you have to be at work at a certain time, but unlike me you can probably get away with staying at Starbucks for five or six minutes and lingering and walk in and blame it on the traffic. I can’t. You can blame it on the vet, you can blame it on the kid — I can’t. And so my ideal, if I really want to recharge, if I really want to get real focused, I don’t do anything until I feel like doing it. And if I feel like doing nothing, I do nothing. And so I’m back, folks. I am ready. I am rested. And so that’s what I did. Normally when I go on vacation somewhere, there are still time pressures and time constraints, if you’re playing golf early in the morning. I’m not complaining, the golf was fun and all that sort of stuff, but it’s not really relaxing in the sense that I don’t get a break from the things that really stress me. And yes, even I, ladies and gentlemen, encounter stress. And most of my stress is oriented around time. And so when I can get rid of any time constraints or requirements in my life, then I do it. And I did it. And I couldn’t have done it were I married. See, that’s the key. Are you going to sit in here for three days in a row and not come out? Dawn, don’t give me that smirk. I’m not criticizing anybody. I’m just telling you who I am. And so there you have it.